Rachel Zoe's Style Dos and Don'ts

Glamour got Rachel Zoe, A-list dresser, designer, and star of The Rachel Zoe Project, to share her ultimate fashion DOs and DON'Ts.
As told to Amy Spencer, Glamour

WWD/Robert Mitra
WWD/Robert Mitra

I started styling people when I was just eight years old, without even knowing what a stylist was. One of my guy friends wore only soccer clothes to school, and it bugged me because his family was very well-dressed-theyalwayswore Ralph Lauren-and I knew he had better clothes! So I went to his house one day and set up looks for Monday through Friday. I laid them out head to toe with shoes and everything. Isn't that weird for an eight-year-old to do? But he wore them and was so handsome.

Fashion, style, taste-I know it's all subjective. But at the end of the day, I think we're all just trying to achieve that
Pretty Womanmoment when we go from God-knows-what-we-were-wearing to total princesses. Shouldn't every woman feel like she has red-carpet moments? Just saying, shouldn't we all live the dream? It doesn't matter if you're going to an office party or dinner with your boyfriend. It's about feeling great in that moment and having a picture you can look at later and say "I turned itoutthat night."

So here are my DOs and DON'Ts for style like that every day-and what I've learned about living a happy life to go with it.


See more:
10 Things Girls Always Do in Movies and Never Do in Real Life

DO tread lightly on trends.
You have to interpret what's hot to make it work on yourself. If tweed suits are in but you're not a suit kind of girl, wear the jacket with jeans and a pair of Converses. The idea is that you wear it the way that becomes the mostyou. For example, skinny jeans couldn't be more in style, but they make my legs look really short, so I only do them with thigh-high boots.

DON'T wear pants the wrong length.
Something that's very painful for me is when people wear pants that are too short. Ican't, you know what I mean? Here's the rule: Unless they're cropped to ankle length on purpose, your pants should always skim the ground, like just a quarter-inch above the bottom of your foot. In the luxurious life, we would have different pairs of the same style hemmed for heels and hemmed for flats, but most of us don't, so you have to choose. If you're going to make the commitment to wear heels, your pants have to skim the ground. Please just commit. I can't bear too-short pants. They make me crazy!

DON'T mix hardware.

Let's say your bag has silver metal, but your jacket and your belt and your shoes have gold. No. I don't love mixing.

DO go for "pops."

Accents of color always brighten you up, whether they're from a trim, a bag, a shoe, jewelry, a hat, or a whole article of clothing. If you have on a pair of black trousers, and you do a great printed shirt with some beautiful floral print or a bold red color, your whole face can really come alive. The same goes for animal prints or sequins and glitz. But I call it a pop because you should only wear one piece like that at a time. I've seen more women in allover looks, and I'm sorry but you just can't. Pick one.

DO copy people.
Take someone in the public eye whose style you admire or whose body you think yours is most similar to, see what they do, and try to emulate it. It's not bad to copy a celebrity-God, no! That's what they're there for!

DON'T get discouraged by a limited budget.
Listen, some of the people I know with the smallest spending accounts have the biggest style. The key is creativity in mixing and matching what you wear. Even the girls with Balenciaga bags or Lanvin flats pair them with H&M, Anthropologie, and Topshop. At this point fashion is so accessible, it's easy to be on trend for very little money.

DO think big picture.
Getting dressed is a head-to-toe experience, so you have to think about how your hair and makeup play into what you're wearing. A ponytail always works. A pony, a braid, a messy topknot, please. Everyone in my office on any given day has a messy knot or a messy pony.

See more:
35 Truths About Marriage (According to Guys)

DON'T bedazzle. Seriously.

Anything bedazzled should be gone. I can't. With the spikes and the bedazzling and the script writing in rhinestones? No. We have to get rid of it.

DON'T rely completely on the mirror.

I'd love to be able to say, "Look in the mirror to see what works best, and you'll know," but most people don't know. SometimesIdon't! We're just not the best judges of ourselves, because we've been looking at our reflections for our entire lives. I thought blue looked like crap on me, and one day I wore a navy jumpsuit, and everyone was like, "Why don't you wear more blue?!" The mirror might not always be the most helpful thing, butcamerasdon't lie. They allow you to step outside yourself and see an outfit with an objective eye, so take pictures if you're not positive about a look. And make sure you get lots of different angles.

DO remember that the best accessory is always attitude.
I'm super self-conscious about my knees-they're kind of chicken-y-so I haven't worn a miniskirt or shorts since I was about 17. The point is that in order to look good, you need tofeelgood. If someone's saying to you, "You look amazing in that skintight dress" but you're miserably uncomfortable, it will show. You have to find the compromise between what looks best on you and what's going to give you the most confidence. Half of beauty is the belief that you're beautiful.

DON'T let yourself go fashion bananas…on your baby.
OK, I admit it: I'm totally obsessed with dressing my son, Skyler. I no longer shop for myself; I just shop for him. But my biggest regret was buying him very expensive clothes when he was ababybaby. A cashmere onesie, furry lace-up booties, Bur-berry, Gucci-he outgrew it all in, like, 10 days! I'm certifiably insane. It's embarrassing. So please, learn from my mistakes and don't spend much money on clothes when they're so young. I'm hopefully going to have another child, and I'll definitely be taking my own advice.

But the most major DO of all?
Being happy! Now that I'm a mother, I'm the happiest I've ever been in my entire life. Honestly, I'm a much different person than I was a few years ago because I just don't sweat the small stuff anymore. The things that really used to sting, like people judging me? Now I'm able to recognize what's truly important in my life-my son, my family-and take the high road. Hate is a very exhausting emotion. Trust me, I've felt it time and time again, and I still feel it for a select few people. But all hate does is turn you into someone that you're not. In the end, taking the high road issomuch more chic.

More from Glamour:

30 Sex Tips Every Woman Should Consider
10 Things He's Thinking When You're Naked
What Your Swimsuit Says About You (According to Guys)
10 Things Men Are Afraid to Ask For (But Really Want)